LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A McCreary County man won free groceries for a year from the Kentucky Blood Center after he gave blood in August.
Christopher Hughes won the thank you prize after giving blood for the first time since he donated during a high school blood drive in 2007 — and he didn't even know he had been entered to win.
According to a news release from the Kentucky Blood Center, Hughes decided to give blood in August for the first time in nearly two decades because it was convenient and because his doctor recommended it -- and he also wanted to help save local lives.
It's not the first time the KBC has awarded thank you gifts to donors. Hughes and other donors over the summer were automatically entered into several giveaways. So Hughes was pleasantly surprised Tuesday when he received 52 Kroger gift cards for $200 each for winning KBC's fourth and final "Summer of Saving" giveaway.
During the summer promotion, KBC also rewarded a Louisville woman with free movie tickets for a year in May, a donor from Winchester with free gas for a year in June and a loyal donor from Bardstown with free Texas Roadhouse for a year in July, according to the release.
Hughes donated at the McCreary County Community Blood Drive at the South Kentucky Regional Emergency Communications Center in Whitley City — which is where he works.
"I didn't know about the giveaway," Hughes said in the release. "I didn't even know I could get a shirt. I was just donating to donate, not even realizing I could win something. Now that I could donate, seeing they were at my work, I just thought it was the right thing to do."
KBC is a nonprofit that relies on donors to provide lifesaving blood products to more than 70 hospitals in Kentucky. Thanks to Hughes and others, blood will be available to the one in four people in Kentucky who will need a blood transfusion in their lifetime.
"I donated not wanting or expecting anything," Hughes said. "It's just nice to know you're helping someone in the community."
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